Leadership

Annette Lantos, Chair Emeritus

Annette Lantos, the wife of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, worked full-time in her husband's office throughout his nearly three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives. She served as the unpaid Executive Director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which Congressman Lantos co-founded. She has spearheaded numerous efforts to help human rights victims, including those persecuted for religious and political reasons, and to further human rights causes. She has also been instrumental in fighting for animal rights and assisted her husband in co-founding the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus.

Annette is the distinguished founder of the International Free Wallenberg Committee, established in 1977 to raise awareness of Raoul Wallenberg's incredible humanitarian mission in Hungary during the Second World War. Her efforts to locate and free Wallenberg from the Soviet Union resulted in several interviews on national news programs such as CBS's 60 Minutes. She also spoke directly with President Jimmy Carter about Wallenberg's case. Although the Swedish humanitarian was never found, Annette and Congressman Lantos have been instrumental in honoring his legacy through numerous legislative initiatives.

Katrina Lantos Swett, President 

Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett serves as President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, established in 2008 to continue the legacy of her father, the late Congressman Tom Lantos, who served as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the US Congress.

Under her leadership, the Lantos Foundation has become a distinguished and respected voice on key human rights concerns ranging from advancing rule of law globally and fighting for Internet freedom in closed societies, to combating the persistent and growing threat of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

Dr. Lantos Swett is the former Chair and Vice Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and teaches Human Rights and American Foreign Policy at Tufts University. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) and the Budapest based Tom Lantos Institute. Dr. Lantos Swett also serves on the Advisory Board of UN Watch, the annual Anne Frank Award and Lecture, and the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy. She serves as Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, which held its inaugural gathering in 2021. 

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